31st ANNUAL
CURRENT CONCEPTS IN EMERGENCY CARE
WAILEA MARRIOTT
WAILEA, HAWAII

DECEMBER 5-10, 2010

The 31st Annual Current Concepts in Emergency Care has been developed as an educational opportunity to present and discuss the basic and more controversial areas of emergency care. Emergency medicine physician experts will address a variety of topics relevant to emergency medicine.

SUMMARY OF EDUCATIONAL NEED
Hospital Emergency Departments (EDs) were established to provide immediate care to the critically injured and ill. However, because EDs are available to everyone regardless of ability to pay, they have become increasingly important as entry points into the US healthcare system. In communities that lack sufficient physicians or clinics, the ED may be the only option for covering acute health care needs. For the uninsured, the ED offers physician and nursing care, laboratory, radiology, support services, and pharmaceuticals that other physicians or clinics cannot or will not provide. The result is that the number of people treated in EDs continues to increase.

Despite the limited number of EDs and the increasing number of patients who seek emergency care, emergency physicians are expected to maintain an excellent standard of care, diagnosing and treating acute and non-acute causes of pain, illness and injury. Maintaining this standard of care requires ED physicians to pursue continuing education in every area of medicine and surgery.

TARGET AUDIENCE
This course is targeted to Emergency, Primary Care, and Critical Care physicians, Nurses, Paramedics, and Physician Assistants.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By participating in this activity, the learner should be able to:

• Describe the critical aspects of patient assessment necessary to arrive at a rapid and accurate diagnostic impression regarding the most critical and common problems faced in the emergency department
• Increase and improve the knowledge required to provide optimal treatment for the broad spectrum of medical conditions seen in the ED
• Demonstrate knowledge of the most recent developments in diagnosis and treatment in a variety of medical areas, including anesthesiology, cardiology, dive medicine, hematology, infectious disease, lab medicine, neurology, obstetrics, orthopedics, pain management, pediatrics, pharmacology, otolaryngology, pulmonology, radiology, toxicology, trauma, and ultrasound
• Delineate the common mistakes that occur in the provision of emergency medical care
• Participate in the development of emergency medical services guidelines and policies
• Be able to describe the challenges and potential responses required in providing disaster relief medical care in remote environments.

ACCREDITATION
AMA: This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education through the joint sponsorship of the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Emergencies in Medicine (EIM). The University of California, San Diego School of Medicine is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The University of California, San Diego School of Medicine designates this educational activity for a maximum of 27.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

AAFP: This activity, Current Concepts in Emergency Care, with a beginning date of December 5, 2010, has been reviewed and is acceptable for up to 27.75 Prescribed credits by the American Academy of Family Physicians.

AMA/AAFP Equivalency: AAFP Prescribed credit is accepted by the American Medical Association as equivalent to AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ toward the AMA Physician's Recognition Award. When applying for the AMA PRA, Prescribed credit earned must be reported as Prescribed, not as Category 1.

ACEP: Approved by the American College of Emergency Physicians for a maximum of 27.75 hour(s) of ACEP Category I credit.

CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC COMPETENCY
This activity is in compliance with California Assembly Bill 1195 which requires continuing medical education activities with patient care components to include curriculum in the subjects of cultural and linguistic competency. Cultural competency is defined as a set of integrated attitudes, knowledge, and skills that enables health care professionals or organizations to care effectively for patients from diverse cultures, groups, and communities.

Linguistic competency is defined as the ability of a physician or surgeon to provide patients who do not speak English or who have limited ability to speak English, direct communication in the patient's primary language. Cultural and linguistic competency was incorporated into the planning of this activity. Additional resources on cultural and linguistic competency and information about AB1195 can be found on the UCSD CME website at http://cme.ucsd.edu.